308: Chapter 152: Disarming but not Returning to the Fields 308: Chapter 152: Disarming but not Returning to the Fields As the armies withdrew from one another, the smoke of gunpowder dissipated, and Wacht Castle regained its tranquility.
Inside the castle’s parlor, Baron Gunar looked uneasily at the adversary he had fought against for over a decade, “I never imagined that one day, I would sit at the sa ‘table’ as you.”
Eriv leaned back in his chair, a relaxed smile on his face, “Really?
If I rember correctly, just over two months ago, we sat at the sa table cursing each other at the general’s camp in Mamor.”
The Master of Thorns still rembered the smug look on his opponent’s face when the latter had seized Leding Castle.
But fortune turns with the wind; having taken Archers Castle with nearly twenty thousand people, Eriv now viewed Baron Dawson’s “Leding Castle,” a small fortress of but two or three thousand souls, as hardly worth ntioning.
“It’s a taphor!
And to think you Farolises claim to be cultured,” Baron Gunar snorted coldly.
“One with culture would not use such an inappropriate taphor,” Eriv shrugged.
“But let’s get to the point, Lord Gunar.
Both our tis are precious, and I must hurry back to Glade County to oversee the grand sche.”
“Is my son still here?”
“Canis?
I haven’t seen much of him, but he must be with my vassal in Longka or Selva by now.”
Since the Farolis Family was saving Canis, Baron Grey Wolf wasn’t all that worried about his eldest son’s safety.
He glanced sidelong at the door, then turning back, he said seriously, “Can your people be trusted?
I don’t want others knowing that I’ve been here.”
“Don’t worry, the Royalist nobles won’t find out.
That the head wolf of Wolfenhol would co here secretly to court the remnants of the forr King’s faction,” Eriv said with sarcastic jest.
Baron Gunar’s brows furrowed with disgust at Eriv’s insinuating comnts.
But being in a position where he needed sothing, he could only pinch his nose and attempt to present his proposal.
As Eriv listened to Gunar’s words, his mocking expression gradually beca serious.
After so probing, the Master of Thorns formulated a plan in his mind…
“I can help you, but what the Wolf Family is offering in return is insufficient for the benefits you are about to gain.
That sum of money cannot buy the rich lands you are set to acquire,” Eriv gestured for Sir Marcello to spread out a map on the table.
“Do you intend to reclaim from Wolf Territory the lands stripped away sixteen years ago?” Gunar furrowed his brows; he would never agree to that.
The Wolf Family had managed the land for over a decade—how could they possibly spew it back up after having swallowed it?
“If I could, I would love to drive all of you back to your roots in Farayel Domain,” Eriv shook his head, pointing to the map.
“But I do not have the energy to engage in internal strife with you now.
The land to the south of Nightmare Forest is vast, and the grudges and restrictions of the past years have long wearied .”
He drew an imaginary line vertically down from the wilderness west of Aiken Village, right along the southwestern edge of Wolf Territory, cutting straight through Nightmare Forest.
“The forested area east of this line will all belong to the Thorny Flower Family.
The Gunnar Family must promise the King in writing that they will never lay a finger on the new territories developed by the Farolis Family; I care not what happens west of that line.
You may vie for it against the Kosos lords based on your own rits,” Eriv withdrew his finger and unapologetically marked one-third of the eastern Nightmare Forest for himself.
Baron Gunar raised an eyebrow at the Master of Thorns’ voracious appetite, “Pie in the sky, Lord Farolis.
Haven’t you looked closely at where this line starts?
You want the Thorny Flower Family to start encircling territory from the southernmost end of Wolf Territory?
Do you intend to make the lands conquered by the Gunnar Family to the south beco an exclave?”
“What’s wrong with an exclave?
The Wolf Territory in Kosos County and your ancestral ho in Farayel are also exclaves,” Eriv said confidently.
“Can dostic and foreign territories be compared?
If the Wolf Family’s outer territories cannot form a continuous stretch, how can I transport supplies and troops if attacked by the Kantadar people?
Am I to ask you for passage every ti?
You play a good ga, Lord,” Gunar said dissatisfied.
“You could detour further west; the forest west of this line is still no man’s land.
What does it matter if the territory’s shape takes a slight turn?” Eriv laughed.
“Further west?
You want the Wolf Family to circle land in the south of Baron Flagg’s territory?” Baron Grey Wolf was almost laughing out of anger.
Did he expect the Wolf Family, well-fed and content, to openly betray the Royalist by seizing land to their south?
“Lord Gunar, it’s you who’s asking , not the other way around.
I have presented Thorny Flower Family’s conditions.
I’m not forcing a choice upon you.
If the Gunnar Family is capable, just carve your own road south through the forest…
But my road won’t be opened to you in advance,” Eriv said with a sly smile, leaning back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the armrest.
“If you’re willing to wait half a month and follow the Kingdom’s army along the Thorny Flower’s road, I certainly won’t stop you then.”
Hearing this, Gunar clenched his fist and stood up, nearly ablaze with rage…
almost on the verge of storming out.
But the leader of Wolf Territory clearly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and eventually sat back down slowly.
Following the army in the campaign and the distribution of territories afterward, there’s no telling how much land he could gain from the other lords.
The Wolf Family had already taken plenty of advantage in Mamor County; the Royalist inside could not always favor Wolf Territory, especially now that the Thorny Flower Family controlled the passes, and the Royalist no longer needed the Wolf Family to “lead the charge” against Baron Farolis.
“You are a gluttonous fellow, not satiated even after seizing Glade County?
You want to occupy such a vast forest…
Do you really have that many people to develop it?” Gunar complained.
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